In the Shadows
by macada-mia-san
Summary: When something important is taken away from you, even through misery you can find new friends. A new ally could mean new adventures - but also new enemies and riddles. (2012 Universe)
1. Chapter 1

"Guys? Guys!"

It had been a normal day at the lair while the turtles killed some time before sundown. That was until April rushed in, breathing heavily from exhaustion. Raphael was the first to notice her since Donnie and Leo were busy somewhere else and Mikey concentrated really hard on beating his previous highscore at some video game.

"Sup, April? Something wrong?", he asked, punching his younger brother to get his attention and motioning him to get the others.

April waited until everyone came in before she spoke which gave her enough time to catch her breath.

"It's about Mr. Murakami. He hasn't appeared at his restaurant for a few days, so I went up to his apartment to see if he was okay. But no one answered the door...so I thought you guys could search for him?"

The turtles looked at each other, confused. "That's strange indeed", Donnie stated as he chew on his bottom lip, "he didn't say anything about leaving, and we've been there a few days ago."

Leo scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Then maybe something's happened to him. We'll go to his apartment tonight, and if it's still locked, we're going to break in for clues."

Everyone agreed to this plan, so as soon as night struck New York City four turtles snuck out of a manhole and made their way over the rooftops.

Unfortunately, Mr. Murakami's apartment was still dark and locked, like April had found it earlier. So their only option was breaking in, which wasn't hard to do since they had Donatello the braniac with them.

"Seems he's really not here", Raph whispered as they slowly stepped into the dark corridor. "Yeah", was Leo's response, "let's split up to find some clues on where he might have gone."

To not cause any unwanted attention from neighbours they left the lights off, but still there was enough from the streets outside to see something.

Donatello snuck into what seemed to be the living room, looking around for something helpful. Suddenly there was something under his feet, making him trip and almost fall, but he managed to regain his balance.

"What was that?", he thought, snatching the thing from the floor. He stared at the little device formed like a shell in disbelief. "A T-phone? How did _that_ end up here?" Trying to push some buttons he realized it was broken.

"So this belongs to you?"

The turtle almost screamed in shock when the voice appeared out of nowhere. "Wha-?!"

"I asked if it's _yours_!"

He turned around, his eyes scanning the surroundings for anyone, but he couldn't find who was speaking. "Well, yes, but I don't know ho-" Suddenly a pain exploded in his head and everything went black.

xxx

"I'm done, did you find anything?" Raphs head popped into the kitchen where Michelangelo was looking.

"Wpppft?" Mikey jumped back from the fridge, carrying a large bowl of pre-made Gyozas and half of it already stuffed in his mouth. It was immediately spanked out of his hand, followed by two three-fingered hands around his neck. "WHERE YOU EVEN LOOKING, YOU DIPSHIT!?"

"-LEO, HEEEEEEELP!"

"Guys, keep it _down_ a bit, _would you_?!", Leo's voice came from the doorway. He finished searching the bedroom, but like his brothers he didn't find anything helping.

"Donnie, you finished?" The three of them returned to the hallway, looking for the purple-masked turtle.

"...Donnie?"

It was then when they heard a loud _thump_ from where he had gone and rushed into the living room to witness a rather unpleasant scene.

A figure stood with their brother who lay unconcious on the floor, dressed in dark clothes.

It looked up to them, revealing nothing but small rips for seeing, the rest of it's face covered.

The three turtles immediately turned into alert-mode, ready to fight whoever it was that had attacked their brother.

Raph was the first to rush forward and grab the stranger by his collar, lifting him up a few inches from the ground. "WHAT DID YOU SUCKER DO TO HIM!?", he screamed and wanted to punch him in the face, when suddenly his arms were knocked to he sides and his face meet the figure's foot. He was caught by the others as he stumbled backwards, holding his bleeding nose.

"You okay?", Mikey asked while Leonardo eyed their attacker cautiously. He was now holding Kama in both of his hands, glancing at the turtles angrily.

The hothead grunted and wiped the blood of his face. "Yah, fine. Let's kick this fucker's butt!"

And without any further words a fight broke out; three turtles, their brother still knocked out for good, and the stranger who came out of nowhere.

Being three against one they thought it would be a quick fight, but unfortunately the living room didn't give the needed space for them and their shells to move freely - Especially with trying not to step on Donatello.

Whoever their opponent was - it was pretty clear he was highly skilled, swinging the Kama as if they were part of his own body. The floor was soon dripped with blood; some of it human, some turtle one. Their fight led them into the hallway which was big enough to give them more room - and right when Michelangelo was about to land a fatal strike onto the stranger's head thick, black smoke filled the room and made the turtles cough, blinded.

"B-back to *cough* Don-Donnie, quick...!"

When they stumbled back into the living room they blinked the tears out of their eyes and it took a few seconds until they could see again.

Well, what they saw was nothing more than a perfectly clean and empty room, clear from signs of any living form - including their brother.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

Thank you for reading my story! The first chapter is kind of short, but the next ones will definitely be longer. :)  
As long as I have some chapters ready I will upload weekly, so please review how you liked it so far!


	2. Chapter 2

_SPLASH!_

Donatello was woken by something ice cold spattering his face.

When he pitched his eyes open a painful groan escaped his throat. He felt as if he was run over by the Shellraiser itself...

"Finally." The turtle jumped on the inside. There was this voice again!

But this time he actually saw the person speaking - well, covered like this he didn't see anything but dark cloth, but it was better than talking to air. "And I thought I accidentally killed you. ...Not that I didn't want to, believe me."

"Y-you...! Who are you?! Where are my brothers?"

He wanted to wipe the water off his face, but noticed his arms were tied up. Great.

"What does thi-" "SHUT UP! I'M asking the questions here, you filthy scum!"

He stared at the figure speechless about this sudden outburst, followed by a smack in his face. "OUCH! What was THAT for!?"

A small finger pushed painfully into his chest. Donatello shuddered when he got a glimpse of the eyes which were staring at him furiously. They were so hateful he nearly could see a dark aura around this person. Who the hell was he?

"You know pretty darn well what THAT was for! I'm just glad you were so damn stupid and returned for your phone."

The turtle blinked in confusion. What was he talking about...?

"I'm going to ask you some questions now. Just to make sure: The longer you don't talk, the painfuller it'll get for you. Got that?" Obviously leaving him no choice, he nodded. Maybe he could find out what was going on here.

He was grabbed by the top part of his belt and junked forward, making his arms ache even more by the pulling as they already were. Only now he noticed his staff wasn't with him, either. Of course, he would have disarmed a 'prisoner', too.

"Who do you work for and why did you kill him?!"

These words were spoken quietly, but that didn't make them sounding less dangerous.

Still he didn't understand what this was all about. "S-sorry, I don't know-" "ANSWER ME!" Again he was slapped, making his cheek burn bright.  
"Who are you even talking about?"

A bitterly laugh escaped the stranger's covered mouth. "Playing stupid, aren't you? HE WAS MY FATHER YOU DIPSHIT!" This was followed by sharp pain in his stomach, caused by a forcefully slammed fist and making him cough.

Donatello's mind raced, trying to understand this whole situation. There was a person, waiting for them in Murakami-san's apartment to pick up the broken T-phone - which he had no clue about how it got there - and taking him hostage for cross-examining him about something he didn't even know.

He sighed in frustration. "Listen, if you just could explain to me what's going on here I would tell you everything I know about this case, even if I think you got the wrong person."

Now it was the stranger's turn to sigh. He turned around - whether to think or for something else, he didn't know - and faced him again, coming closer until his covered face was only inches from the turtle's.

"Maybe..." The person's voice was shaking, so were his fists. "Just maybe... you weren't involved. But someone of your gang was. So don't you _dare_ tell me you know nothing! Tell me..." It was merely more than a whisper, but enough to hear. Donatello gasped as he looked straight into the other's eyes - was that a tear?

"...Why did you kill Mr. Murakami?"

xxx

Splinter and April were already awaiting the brothers when they came back home.

Seeing there were only three of them, their Master's expression immediately turned worried. "My sons, the sun is already rising. Why is Donatello not with you?", he asked with furrowed brows. Obviously something wasn't right.

"This SON OF A BITCH!" Raph summed it up pretty well by hitting the wall, screaming his anger out. "It was a fuckin' TRAP!"

April raised her eyebrows. "A trap in Mr. Murakami's apartment? What happened to Donnie?"

Michelangelo threw himself on the sofa, head in his hands and sobbed quietly. Leonardo sighed and threw his swords to the ground, frustrated. "There was a Ninja out of nowhere. He blinded us and took him. And we have no idea where to, we have been searchin' until now."

Silence fell over the lair.

"Sensei, what should we do?", Mikey asked quietly from the sofa. He didn't get any response for a while since nobody knew the answer to that.

Splinter clenched his teeth, thinking. "...We will think our next steps through as soon as you have regained your strength, my sons. I will now discuss our options with April while you get some rest."

With that he turned away and gestured April to follow him. She quickly swallowed her tears and did so, with a last glance at the devastated turtles.

They silently went into the dojo and after closing the door behind them she knelt down, still having a lump in her throat from losing one of the guys who felt to her like brothers. If she hadn't asked them for checking up on Mr. Murakami...

"My daughter, I know this is a time of sorrow for all of us; but we must not bow to the suffering, or else we will never see my dear son again. We now have to try and think of a way to find Donatello."

April nodded; he was right.

xxx

"I WHAT!?", said turtle squeaked, staring at what seemed to be Mr. Murakami's son. He didn't even know he _had_ one, at least he had never mentioned it.

"Murakami-san's _dead_?!"

That question was followed by another strike. "Don't you DARE PLAY STUPID AGAIN! It was _your_ phone I found with his dead body!", the stranger spat out, choking lightly from holding back tears.

Donatello freezed - now it hit him. Someone killed their friend and left their T-phone at the crime scene on purpose to lead a false track to them.

"Listen, we would _never_ do that to him, we were his friends! We were in his place to search for clues to where he might be cause he's gone missing! I don't know how our phone ended up there!"

His only hope was to make this person believe him - or else who knows what he would do with him.

"Yeah, exactly what I would say, too, fucker. DON'T LIE TO ME!" Another slap. Ouch. The turtle's head started to feel dizzy from all the hitting.

"Please, just listen to what I have to say, okay? I don't know if your father ever told you about us, but most likely he didn't cause of... well, you see what we actually look like."

He sighed in frustration, thinking of how to persuade someone who thought you murdered his father you were innocent - besides of his own friend being dead.

A Kama was suddenly held to his face. "Deal. I'll listen. Try to convince me. If you fail, I'll chop your head off just like you did with my father's. And the other one's will follow, believe me."

Donatello shuddered, trying not to image the horrible scene of someone finding his father in this condition.

"I have no choice, do I? Well... we live underground so we don't cause panic in the city ...me and my brothers met your Dad when a friend wanted to take us out to dinner. Since he was blind we didn't have to fear showing ourselves. That night we saved him from the Purple Dragons and since then he became our friend - he even found out about us being giant mutant turtles and didn't sweat it."

Silence followed, but since his head was still on his shoulders he continued speaking whatever went through his panicked mind at this moment.

"Since then he always made us the Pizza Gyoza he invented for us and...p-please... please don't make my brothers find out about his death like this... don't make April do so..."

Tears built up inside him when he thought of never seeing his family again.

The cloth-covered figure stared at him. Disbelief struck his eyes for a moment before regaining words again as he pressed the blade of his Kama closer to the turtle's throat.

"Tell me your name", he demanded. A small light of hope gleamed up in Donatello's mind, hearing how the voice had become less furious.

"I-I'm Donatello. My brothers are Leonardo, Raphael and-" "...Michelangelo." It was only a frail whisper, but still the brainiac could hear what was just said. "Yes, how did you know?"

The figure lowered the blade and hung his head, breathing shakily. Was he sobbing?

"F-...father told me about you. He just never mentioned his new friends were giant mutant turtles."

Donatello felt his arms and legs were suddenly free. He rubbed the aching wrists as his capturer moved away. "Wait, where-" "Take this and leave. And...sorry."

Out of reflex he caught what was thrown in his direction. It was his staff. "Thanks, then...?"

The next look he shot at the doorway of this room he was held in showed him that he was already left alone.

xxx

Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo couldn't even think of sleeping right now with their brother captured, but since it was their master's order they had at least tried for several hours.

Now they were sitting around the coffee table, discussing what to do.

April had the idea of tracking Donnie's T-phone, but they didn't manage to get into his laptop which could have done that.

"If we're ever gonna see 'im again I'mma spank his dickhead til he spats the password. Can't be robohead's the only one who can track us", Raphael groaned and slammed his fist onto the table. The others didn't say anything about his rant, knowing he was just as frustrated as they were and hiding it behind insults.

Leonardo sighed. "I guess the only thing we can do is keep patrolling until we find something. NYC's big, so we should split up this time. I mean, a human fleeing with a heavy unconcious mutant on his back... he _had_ to leave a trace somewhere!"


	3. Chapter 3

Donatello stepped out of his 'prison', looking for where his former capturer had gone. He told him to just leave, but being out in a hallway he saw that it was still bright day outside. Plus he couldn't leave his friend's son alone like this.

He continued his search, taking in the surroundings. It looked like an abandoned office building, having many small rooms with no furniture except some left working tables and broken monitors. One of the doors was not wide open, but left ajar. He was just about to call out for 'Murakami-san Junior', as he was calling him in his head since he had no name yet, when he heard his quiet voice accompanied by sobs.

Who was he talking to?

Cautiously the turtle neared the doorway. There he saw him through the small gap, kneeling and arms stretched forward for some reason.

"F-forgive me, father. I made a mistake - I dishonored you by hurting your friends, I-I... would've killed him..."

The brainiac tensed in an instant when he saw steel flashing. "NO!"

He threw himself into the room and crashed onto the human, grabbing the hands holding a katana which then landed on the floor with a loud clattering sound.

"WHAT THE SHELL WERE YOU THINKING!?", the turtle screamed as he knelt above the person who just tried to commit hara-kiri - suicide for regaining honor to the family after crushing it - and grabbed him by his collar. He hadn't even imagined there were still such traditions nowadays, especially from someone of Mr. Murakami's family.

Big, tear-filled eyes stared up to him, trying to understand what just happened. "Why...?" He tried to struggle himself out of Donatello's grip which only resumed in him failing and crying out loud, ripping the mask off his face screeching: "WHY DID YOU STOP ME?!"

The normal answer to such a question would have been to babble something about not throwing someone's life away and such, but the turtle went silent, staring into the now revealed and tear-drenched face.

The voice had been muffled by the mask and the cloth were thick and wide so he couldn't make it out earlier, but-... "You- You're a girl?", he finally managed to bring out in disbelief.

She didn't respond to that since it was quite obvious now and stopped trying to free herself; instead she gave in and cried out loud, failing to hold back any longer.

Donatello continued to stare at her, not knowing what to do, so he released his grip and she could at least sit up.

"S-sorry...I'm so- sorry...", she blabbered quietly while still sobbing, "I didn't wa-want to-..." His arm found it's way around her shoulders, being the only thing he could think of to comfort her. "Shhh, it's okay. I still got my head, see?"

He tried to smile reassuringly as he pointed to his throat. The girl grabbed him tightly by the belt holding his staff and now cried even louder into his shoulder, releasing all the pain and sorrow about her father's death she had held up until now by clinging to the thought of revenge.

xxx

It was soon going to dawn and the Team including April was sitting in the severs, itching to go upside. The air couldn't be more charged as everyone's nerves were on edge.

The shrill sound of Leonardo's T-Phone suddenly cut the silence and made everybody jump.

"It's- it's Donnie!", he exclaimed, staring at the display wide-eyed before picking up. The others were at his side in no time, trying to catch something from the coming conversation.

"Guys, it's m- " "DONNIEOHMYGODYOU'REALIVEWHEREAREYOU?!", Mikey shrieked straight into everyone's ears so loud even Donatello on the other side nearly had a heart attack.

"Guys, guys! I'm alright, I'm alive, I'm not hurt, okay? Don't panic and stay at the lair, I'll come home as soon as sun sets and explain everything to you. See ya then!"

And with that he hung up, leaving his family even more confused as they were before.

xxx

Donnie kept his promise: It wasn't long after dark that they heard someone coming. His brothers nearly tackled him into the water canal as they rushed and crashed into him, hugging him to death. "DONNIEWEMISSEDYOUSOMUCHBRO!" Of course, Mikey was the loudest of them all.

"Guys- air-!", was the only thing their brother could manage before they released him. "Geez, you crushed me, guys!" Despite him gasping for air, Donnie laughed. Hours ago he didn't think he would ever see his brothers again and now he was here.

"What happened?"

Raph was the one to finally ask the question everyone had on their mind. Sighing, the brainiac went to the couch and sat down.

Donnie told them the whole story about Murakami's death, the T-phone which was planted as false evidence and the kidnapping. He left out getting beaten up and the hara-kiri attempt, but still it took some time to explain everything that happened.

Silence followed. The air was heavy with grief over their friend's death; April was crying over his shoulder. Leo was the first one to break the silence: "So... he actually had a daughter?" The purple masked turtle nodded. "Seems so. And she was led to believe we were the murderers up until now."

April lifted her head, looking at him with tear-filled eyes. "Poor thing. Where is she now?", she asked between sobs. "I don't know, she kind of vanished before we could talk. She should've been living with her father, I guess, but I don't think she wants to return there. Judging from her fighting skills, she'll manage somehow."

xxx

Days passed and the turtles managed to return to their daily routines. Though they still mourned Murakami's death, they focused on finding out what had happened. Since the murderer wanted his daughter to annihilate them, thinking they did it, it must have been one of their enemies.

But who? The Kraang, the Shredder, some random villains they pissed of somehow... there were many possibilities. They didn't even remember where they had lost one of their T-phones, but judging how Mikey always let them lie around it could have been anywhere.

Donatello sat in his lab, thinking hard. It must have been someone who knew Mr. Murakami had a daughter, and who also knew she was a high-skilled Kunoichi. But without having any more information about her it was impossible to track down such a person. He already tried tracking the broken T-phone, hoping she still had it in her possession, but the signal was dead. He didn't even have her name...

He was thrown out of his thinking when his T-phone went off. "A message...?" He snatched the phone and looked who it was from. Unknown number...?

 _Come behind the 24/7 after sundown.  
It's important._

xxx

"And it's a trap, I tell ya!"

Donatello had informed his brothers as soon as he read the message. The reactions were mixed; Mikey had fantasies about some awesome adventure coming, Raph thought it was obviously a trap. Leonardo hadn't said anything yet, he seemed deep in thought.

"I'm gonna go, whether you're with me or not, Raph", Donnie stated with a stubborn expression on his face, "I _need_ to know where this person got my number. Maybe someone's watching us? In this case we can confront him right then."

Their leader looked at him. "I think Donnie's right. And since the message was send only to him he - or they - won't expect all four of us coming."

Raphael growled, folding his arms. "Fine. I'll go with ya. But don't come cryin' when some creeper kicks your butt!" Mikey jumped up and began running around the living room in excitement. "Hooray! Super-secret-awesome-kickass-adventure here we come!"

xxx

At sundown they made their way to the surface. They carefully opened the lid to the manhole they were rising from. Who knows, if the person had Donnie's number he could be following them right now, too.

When no one was around, they jumped out and continued along the roofs to the 24/7. Everyone was quiet except for Mikey, who couldn't stop babbling about what was to come. "Maybe it's an agent who wants us to save the world from some super secret space invasion! Or it's ourselves from the future who need our help, or-!"

"MIKEY, would you _stop_ that?!", Donnie snapped, obviously tensed.

"Orrr...!" Suddenly his little brother grinned from ear to ear, facing him. "...Orrr our dearest Donnie has some secret admireer!"

That earned him a smack on the back of his head, not only from Donatello, whose face turned a dark shade of red, but also from the other two.

"Quit fooling around, we're almost there!", Leo hissed and shot them a serious gaze. "Donnie, you go down and wait for whoever it is. We're staying up here so they don't know you're not alone. Guys: Stealth mode!"

And with that the three of them disappeared in the shadows, leaving their brother to wait in the small alley behind the 24/7 alone.

He didn't have to wait for long; after a few minutes something rustled behind one of the trash containers and a figure appeared out of the shadows. He couldn't make out any facial features since the shadow of it's hood covered everything.

"You came", it simply said, a glimpse of surprise in it's voice. The turtle blinked. "Uh...yes, you told me to. Who are you, anyways?" The figure took some steps further to him and lifted it's arms to-

 _SLAM!_

Before it had time to react a red masked turtle came down from above and tackled it to the ground. "DON'T YOU DARE LAY A FINGER ON HIM!", Raphael shouted, pinning the figure down.

"Raph, what the hell!", Donnie screamed, not understanding what made him tick out.

"Sorry, we couldn't hold him back!" The other two landed beside him, apologetic looks on their faces.  
" _What_ do you want with my brother?!" A sai was pressed to the figure's throat. It gasped, pressing it's head to the ground, trying to escape the metal.

"I-... I need his help!", it suddenly yelled.

Raph blinked, though not lifting the sai. " _Who the hell_ are you?!" He tore the hood off in one quick motion as his eyes widened.

"Raph, let her be, it's Mr. Murakami's daughter!" Donatello grabbed his shoulders and pulled him off the girl. She jumped up in an instant, rubbing her throat. "Geez, nice to meet you too, tough guy. The name's Kimiko by the way, Kim for short."

Raph was let go of his brother's grasp, but Kim didn't fail to notice he still had his weapons out. Such an untrusting fellow... she grinned.

Leonardo and Mikey stepped forward, eyeing her curiously. "I'm Leo, that's my brothers, Mikey and Raph. You already know Donnie, I guess", he introduced themselves, not really sure how to deal with the girl yet. His little brother didn't stop at this, but circled around her with only few inches between them. As usual, he didn't know of anything called personal space.

She stood perfectly still, but her eyes followed his every movement. "Dude, you look like shit", he suddenly stated, earning shocked looks from his brothers. "MIKEY, that's _not_ how you talk to a-" "Donnie, he's right."

Leo had held him back from jumping at their youngest. At a second look it was clear to see the girl was really worn out with dark bags under her eyes and her clothes pretty run-down.

Donatello gaped at her when he saw it, too.

"...Kim, what's going on?"

She lowered her gaze to the ground. "As I said, I... need your help. The Foot Clan is kind of after me. I've been roaming the streets for the past days to avoid them."

Everyone stared at her, waiting for further explanation. Looking at their expecting faces, she continued: "They know where I live, that's why I need somewhere to hide. Since I've never seen some giant green turtles ninja-ing around here at night I thought you guys were pretty good at it." Eyeing every one of them she waited for some kind of answer.

"So that's why you texted me. Where did you even get my number, anyway?", Donnie finally asked, that being the primary reason he wanted to come to this meeting.

A crooked grin appeared on her face at this. "I still have your phone. It was broken, but I managed to extract the contact data from it's memory."

Raph snorted. "Great, another nerd."

His brothers ignored him; their leader was busy holding the brainiac's mouth shut with his hand, knowing very well the spark in his eyes that could only mean his scientist-mode switched on. But now was not the time nor place for this stuff.

"So-", he spoke, having a hard time holding his brother still, "so you thought we could help you hide how exactly...?"

Kim looked him straight in the face. "Take me with you. I still need to find my father's murderer, but I have my theory. Since you were his friends I guessed you would be interested."

The turtles thought for a moment. Or rather they wanted to, but Mikey already jumped at the girl, hugging her tightly. "Yay, I knew it! We'll be the coolest detectives, like, 'Turtles and their Roomie!', that'll be so _aaawesome_!", he exclaimed.

"Not so fast, dumphead!" Raphael pulled him away from her, smacking his forehead. "You want to take some stranger to ours, _what're you thinking_?!"

His brother pouted in response. "But she's Mr. Murakami's daughter and needs our help, you heard it?" That earned him another snort from his elder. "For all we know she could be lying! Who says he even had a daughter? Who says she isn't part of the Foot?!"

"Raph, _enough_!", Donnie yelled. He had freed himself from Leo as this topic was of much more importance now. " _I_ know she isn't lying, isn't that enough to trust her?" He still remembered her crying over her father's death. _That_ wasn't a lie.

Raph shot him an annoyed glance. "Yeah, like _you_ are the one to judge that! You see a cute girl and that's it, you lose your head!"

His brother didn't have an answer for that, but just gaped at him open-mouthed.

Just when Kim was about to counter that, multiple shadows dropped down around them.

"Oh, I knew it! It _was_ a trap!"

In a matter of seconds they were surrounded by Foot ninjas. Kim went pale. "Guys, I swear, they're _not_ with me!"

And then hell broke loose.

The Foots launched at the turtles and vice versa. The girl still stood in shock until her reflexes kicked in when Raphael charged at her with his sai. "Raph, stop! They're _my_ enemies, too!", she shrieked as she blocked his attacks with her Kama. But he didn't hear. "As if! How dare you-"

He was interrupted when one of the Foot bots struck her side with full force, smashing her into the wall, and gasped.

 _Whoops._

"See? You stupid-..." She coughed from the blow and stood up, holding her side. There was no time responding as more of the Foots came. One of her Kamas found it's way in the head of her attacker who dropped instantly, sparks emerging from the gap. She huffed and scowled at Raphael, who now pierced one of the bots after another with his blades. At least they fought on the same side now.

The alley rang with sounds of clashing steel and dropping bodies and for a while it seemed as for every Foot they disposed of others came. But after a while they were finally fewer and Kimiko was in good spirits they would make it out of here soon; until a voice appeared right behind her:

"Long time no see, we were looking for you."

Her face went deadly pale as she slowly turned around and froze.

Samuel.

Of all the people, _him_.

There he stood in his Foot cloth. He hadn't changed at all since the last time she saw him, except for the way he looked at her.

He was smirking, but his eyes were hard and cold.

The fighting sound around her ceased as now there was only him she focused on.

"You're teaming up with those freaks now, babe? What a shame", he stated and motioned to the fighting turtles.

"Don't you _dare_ call me that, Samuel", she spat, readying her Kama. " _You_ planted that phone, didn't you?"

He laughed. "What other way to let you finish them off, honey? They're our enemies, after all."

Kim snorted at that. "Your enemies maybe. _They_ didn't kill my father for sure."

After a moment of hesitation she whispered: "...did _you_?"

Silence followed as he pursed his lips and pretended to think about it. That was when she knew the answer and her vision went blank.

"YOU FUCKING TWAT!", she screeched as she lunged at him. "HOW DARE YOU!"

He blocked every one of their attacks, still laughing. "You ain't got more than that?!"

She was sending one blow after another at him, to no use. But there was no retreat for her, no mercy. All she had on her mind was rip this fucker apart for good. She didn't even notice the Foot bots were already finished off and the turtles staring at her in shock at her fury.

 _Punch him!_

Again her Blades were blocked by his.

 _Kick him!_

He got to grab her leg and throw her in a wall, but she jumped up and was on him again in an instant.

 _Stab him!_

One of his swords managed to cut her arm, but she didn't care.

 _Kill him!_

She threw her Kama at him and sheathed a dagger instead. While he was smacking her weapon away she got an opening and charged. Blood splattered as she managed to cut his face, but sadly not deep enough.

He growled. "You're gonna pay, bitch." No smirk, no laughter.. His face got dead serious as he launched, not playing around anymore.

The turtles still watched, but no one wanted to step in yet. This seemed like a fight she alone wanted to run.

More blows came, and more blood.

Until the girl suddenly froze mid-strike and fell on her knees. Her eyes widened. "What-...?"

Samuel lowered his blades and his smirk returned. She stared at him in disbelief. "You didn't...?" She coughed up blood as she dropped further, her muscles slowly going limp.

"Don't recognize your own little trick, Kimmie? You were the one who taught me to use that poison, after all." He chuckled and took a step in her direction, lifting his sword in a ceremonial matter.

"Now let's finish this pity life of yours like I did with your father."

That was when the turtles finally took action, seeing there was no way she could survive on her own now. Leo blocked his strike with his katana while Raph and Donnie grabbed the girl, and Mikey-

"Booyakashaa, sucker!", he yelled and dropped a smoke bomb.

The alley was filled with thick purple smoke, making Samuel cough and lose his vision. And when it faded, everyone had vanished.

"Tch. Next time, bitch. That's a promise", he spat and turned away, leaving only masses of demolished Foot robots behind.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

Phew, that was a rather long one. Hope you enjoyed it!


	4. Chapter 4

They reached the lair soon, where Kim was laid on the couch and Donnie started examining her in an instant. "It seems the poison paralyzed her body, but it isn't fatal", he said after a while and drew back his equipment, "she should be fine in a few hours, I think."

Then he turned back to her. "Try to get some sleep, since you, uh..." A sheepish grin spread across his face as he continued, "...since you kinda... can't do anything else. I'll get you a blanket."

Kim blinked to signal she understood. While Donnie went to look for a spare blanket, Leo stood up and looked at his brothers, grimacing at what was about to come. "I'll go and tell Master Splinter. And... ask if she could stay. For now."

And with that he headed to the Dojo where their father supposedly was. "Good luck, Bro!", Mikey yelled after him before a big yawn took over.

"I think all of you could use some sleep now, huh?", Donnie chuckled as he returned and covered Kim with the blanket he found. "Here, now you're warm. Good night, guys!"

Instead of going to bed the purple-masked turtle dropped down on the couch beside the girl and took out a book.

"You're not going to bed, Donnie?", Raph asked with a raised eyebrow. His brother just waved his hand. "Nah, I'm not tired. I recently found this really interesting book on Robotics I want to finish. Also this way someone can have an eye on her until she recovers."

"Yeah, makes sense. So...Night." Raph shrugged and walked away, leaving only his brother and the paralyzed girl in silence.

xxx

"How is she?"

A few hours passed and everyone returned to the living room after catching some rest. Donnie was coming out of the kitchen with some water as the question was asked.

He shrugged. "The poison has worn off since she's able to move again. But she stood up without a word and now she seems to be blowing off some steam."

His brothers blinked. "What do you mean?" Their brother sighed and gestured for them to follow him to the Dojo. They opened the door just enough to see what was going on there.

Kim seemed to have fully recovered from the poison, though you couldn't say that for her pride. She was beating one of Raphael's sand bags senseless.

Judging from the sweat that covered her forehead and the bloody knuckles she has been at it for quite a while.

"Shouldn't we stop her?", Mikey whispered quietly, intimidated by the force the girl was putting in each of her punches.

Nobody answered that for a while, but then Raph shook his head. "If she needs this, we should let her." If anyone knew that, it would be him. He had massacred this bags countless times and it was just what he had needed to calm down his senses.

"Wasn't Sensei in there?", Donatello suddenly asked, scanning the dojo for Splinter, "where is he?"

Leo pointed to a corner on the opposite side of the sand sacks. "There. He's watching her."

xxx

Kimiko coughed, giving the bag a few final blows before she sank down from exhaustion. She gasped for air as she was wiping the sweat from her face with her sleeves. She didn't remember the last time her body was so tired, but stopping punching had been no option until now. "Damn it..."

"Are you finished wearing out your body now?", a voice suddenly appeared right behind her. She whirled around as her eyes widened at the giant rat in a kimono which stood in front of her. "Who-?"

"My name is Splinter. And the four who took you in are my sons. And my students", he stated calmly, watching her with worry in his eyes.

The girl still gaped, but managed to close her mouth and regained her posture on her knees. A gigantic rat, the father of four mutant turtles. Made totally sense.

"May you tell me just what caused this amount of disturbance within your soul, my child?" It was a question softly asked, but still it made her flinch. "I-...I..."

She tore her gaze away from him to face the ground, face reddening.

"I'm just so angry at myself!", she finally burst out, hiding her face in her hands. "All my life and training have always been about self-control! I always had the upper hand in a fight because I didn't let emotions blur my mind. And now I let my rage take over and I totally blacked out! This little dipshit who murdered my father almost had me killed, too! With _my own poison_!" She began to sob. "I'm so ashamed of myself..."

Her forehead touched the floor as she hugged herself tightly and bend over, now sobbing uncontrollably.

Splinter remained still for a while, as did his sons who were still at the door watching the whole scene with sad eyes.

"It is right that you got yourself in a dangerous situation because of your anger, dear", he then said, softly putting his hand on her shoulder, "but it is only natural for us to err sometimes, and our mistakes always wield a valuable lesson for us to learn."

The calmness of his voice did have an effect on her, as the sobbing and shaking ceased after some time and she sat up straight, taking some deep breaths. "You are a wise one, aren't you", she whispered as a smile crept up her face, though she still looked hurtful.

Splinter chuckled at that, stroking his whiskers. "I have been called that by some, yes. It is the many years of experiencing life that speak out of me, which are still for you and my sons to come."

Kim stood and bowed deep before the Master. "Thank you for letting me stay in your house", she stated, "and you are very right about what you said. It will take me a while to overcome my emotions and learn from them, I believe, but I will try."

A crooked smile came across her face. "Can I meditate somewhere?"

xxx

Two hours later the turtles had come together for lunch.

"Kim still in the Dojo?", Mikey asked before shoving a whole slice of pizza in his mouth. Leo also had his mouth full, so he just nodded. Master Splinter had left the girl alone at the dojo where she could be undisturbed while meditating. She had been there ever since.

After Leo had swallowed, he spoke: "Master said training's off for today. He believes she will be there for quite a while due to... 'anger management' he called it."

Donnie laughed out loud at this statement, giving Raph a shove. "Maybe you should join her, Dude!"

That earned him laughs from his brothers as well, except for Raph, who growled at him. But before he could jump at his brother, Splinter appeared and stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Raphael, I want you to come with me", he stated with a blank face, then turned around and gestured for his son to follow. The turtle shot an irritated gaze at his brothers, but eventually followed.

His confusion grew even more when he noticed they were heading towards the dojo. The rat motioned for him to enter.

The moment Raphael opened the door the urge to slam it shut again overcame him.

What the hell was that? Every cell in his body screamed for him to go away, get as far away as possible from this room. But his father shove him in and closed the door behind them so there was no escape.

"Master, what...?"

Splinter gestured at the tree. Or rather at the small figure which sat before it.

"It's her aura", he explained calmly to his son, who couldn't tear his gaze from Kim the moment he realized she was the cause to this terrifying atmosphere.

"There is much more anger raging inside her now than you can imagine, my son. She was blinded by it and it almost killed her if it were not for you and your brothers. And now she is fighting to overcome it."

Raph shuddered. This feeling as if something dark was coming over him in waves, drowning him... it was unbearable. He couldn't believe it was Kimiko's anger that radiated from her like a fount of despair.

"I believe you know why I brought you here, my son?", his master asked quietly. Did his Whiskers just tremble? The turtle blinked. Then he looked at the meditating girl again, and hung his head. "Yes, sensei..."

"Stay. Observe. And learn."

And with that the rat exited the dojo, leaving his son alone.

He looked around nervously and fumbled with his mask, unsure what to do. Should he sit here, or come closer...?

He definitely didn't want to. The thought alone made him shiver. So he sat down where he was, eyes glued to Kimiko who didn't seem to have noticed anything in her trance. Or didn't care.

Well, time to sit through this...

xxx

His brothers had long finished eating and were now watching an episode of Space Heroes when Raph finally returned.

"Dude, where were you?", Mikey shouted, waving at him furiously. Leo eyed him suspiciously. "Yeah, you were gone for like an hour!"

The green eyed turtle scratched his head, not sure how to answer this. "I... I was in the dojo", he sighed after a while, "you could call it a lesson from Master Splinter."

Donnies ears perked up at this. "The dojo? How's Kim?", he asked, making Raph furrow his brows.

"Bad. But she'll manage, I think. I don't know." His voice made it pretty clear he wanted to shut the topic, so the others left him be. Even Mikey seemed to grasp the situation, so everyone focused back to tv.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

Sorry for the late update, I was away for a week. That was all I had pre-written so far, so the next chapters will take much longer to upload.

Hope you enjoyed it so far, please R&R!


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